


One last choice

by Trollvine



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2697785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trollvine/pseuds/Trollvine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elspeth is currently in the underworld of Theros. Is it the end? Or just  another chapter?</p>
            </blockquote>





	One last choice

**Author's Note:**

> Elspeth is possibly my favorite of the "neo" walkers. I hope Wizards is not done with her! For years i've been creating my own roster of MTG characters as i design my own cards on the side. Like most of my MTG work, this will include an original character.

*tink tink tink*

The Underworld on Theros was vast. Souls of the dead that passed the Rivers That Ring the World spread out into the timeless realm. The ground was flat stone, punctured in places by stunted trees and small fissures that ran deeper down into the earth. Gray fog swirled beneath a murky sky, casting the landscape in a light that was neither day nor night. 

*tink tink tink*

Erebos was god of the dead. He ruled over the bleak realm, guiding it through the eventless afterlife and the restful acceptance of it's inhabitants. The majority of souls drifted peacefully. 

*tink tink tink*

Discarded bits of humanity could be seen. Blades, shields, pots and trinkets, pieces of clothing. Gold was everywhere. Ingots, nuggets and coins littered ground, sometimes collecting in huge piles. There was no trade in the land of the dead. Gold had no value, and only one purpose here. 

*tink tink tink*

Elspeth worked diligently on her mask. The dead of Theros who could not rest would each craft themselves a mask of gold, a ticket back into the world of the living. These souls felt unfinished. Their work in life was not yet complete. Her little hammer tapped again and again, shaping out the forehead on her own mask. 

*tink tink tink*

"So sad, this one. Like a parody, instead of a rest." 

Someone spoke. The voice shocked Elspeth from her task, the monotony of it interrupted. The dead rarely spoke, save for strained whispers. But this voice was alive, though wistful and soft. She turned. 

The speaker was a woman. She was tall, black hair falling straight off her head and contrasting her pale skin. Two brown eyes studied Elspeth over a small nose and thin mouth. She did not look like a native. Her clothes were a different style than those on Theros. Her dress was long, and black. Her skinny chest was bound in a corset, her forearms covered in heavy black leather gauntlets. Her waist was bound with a riot of different belts. Trinkets, jewelry, small boxes and a smattering of little dolls and figurines hung from cords, strings and even a few chains. She smiled at Elspeth.

"But you seem to be making the best of it." 

Elspeth blinked, recovering from her surprise. She set aside her mask and rose, facing the woman. 

"Who are you? Someone to keep me company in death?" 

The woman frowned, looking around. She waved her hand slowly through the air, gesturing at the landscape. 

"Death? No, not here. Well, maybe death, but you sound so final. You are far from done with life."

Elspeth stared at her. "That doesn't make any sense. And who are you?" 

The woman bowed slightly. "My name is Adelaide. Like you, I am a planeswalker. And like you, I am not from here, and still like you, I am not dead." 

Elspeth shook her head. 

"The god of the sun drove my own blade into my chest. I am dead, that is why i'm here. Why are you here? How are you here?"

Adelaide smiled coyly, toying with a small bracelet on her wrist. 

"No realm of the dead is denied to me. I come and go as I please. From the Ghost Quarter on Ravnica to the Spirit Fields on Kamigawa, to… " She looked around again, kicking at the dust with a heavy black boot. "…this place. As for why, well, a friend of yours asked me to come speak with you. You remember Ajani?" 

Elspeth could feel her throat begin to tighten at the thought of her friend. Emotions rendered long dormant by this bleak place bubbled again, and her heart ached. She wiped her eyes. 

"Ajani… Thank you. Please, tell him i'm sorry, I wished I could have said goodbye…" 

Adelaide smiled at her. "Well, you still could tell him yourself. You're not truly gone yet. I found you, didn't I?" 

Elspeth shook her head again, and looked at Adelaide. "What do you mean, not truly gone? Isn't this were people go when they die?" 

Adelaide held her hands wide. "Yes. If they die on Theros. But Theros is one plane. You know that. One of countless billions and billions of worlds. Let me show you." 

She reached out and grasped Elspeth's hand. There was a rush, a quick tremble of æther that Elspeth recognized. They had planeswalked. 

Their destination was cold, much colder than the underworld of Theros. The ground beneath them was sand, gray and fine. Above them, black clouds streaked across the sky from horizon to horizon, obscuring whatever light sources hung in the sky. There was no sound. Not even movement. No insects, or animals, no breeze, even the clouds seemed to hang motionless in the sky. The silence and stillness was somehow overwhelming. 

Elspeth gasped, her legs going weak. Adelaide grabbed her by the arms, helping her keep her feet. They were standing on the edge of a yawning crater. It was so wide the curving edge was lost on flat horizon to each side. She could not see the other side. From the ragged edge of the crater was a sharp slope of the same sand, leading down into darkness. 

They descended. Adelaide lead the way, trotting easily down the side. The sand shifted and slipped beneath Elspeth's feet, and she slid as much as walked down the side of the crater. Each crunching sliding noise they made echoed hollow, the giant void swallowing up such a tiny noise. 

The darkness in the center did not go away. Minutes passed as they went down, the ambient light of the plane faded, and Elspeth realized that the center suddenly dropped away, a vertical hole going down. After almost an hour (or so it felt) they slipped and slid to the edge, looking down into inky blackness. 

Adelaide rummaged in her belt, producing a tiny lamp. She tapped it, and it glowed to life, shining so timidly it seemed as if it would flicker out at any moment, but it glowed white and blue. Adelaide reached out and took Elspeth's hand. 

"This light is the only reason we can come here. It is the only light source in the multiverse that can illuminate this place. If you were to be here without it, you would never be able to find your way out. You'd be trapped here, until you became a shadow yourself, and then were gently removed from existence." 

She looked at Elspeth, and smiled. 

"This is the end." 

She jumped. Elspeth yelled in shock, but the sound was barely audible as they were swallowed in darkness. 

They fell, moving air rushing past them. The light was gone almost immediately, only the flicker of Adelaide's lamp proving they were still holding hands. Sound and motion were dampened, growing thicker and sluggish, until Elspeth realized they were not falling anymore. They were not standing, nor floating, or suspended. They just were. 

Adelaide held up the light. Her face was barely visible in the flicker, the little light struggling against the shadows. Elspeth stopped struggling against Adelaide's hand, but was still anxious. 

"What is this place?" She asked. "Why is it so quiet, so… I don't know, just tell me where we are, and why!" 

Adelaide maintained her grip on Elspeth's hand, and spoke gently. She looked around, as if there was anything to see in the dark. 

"This is it. The end of all things. Every plane thinks their afterlife, their underworld, is the end. But they're not. None of them are. They're all just paths, leading to this plane. And the only thing on this plane is this crater. The Term, I call it. The final black period at the end of the ultimate sentence."

Elspeth looked at her companion. The little light played an eerie glow across her face. 

"Adelaide." Elspeth spoke softly. "Why did you bring me to this place?"

Adelaide's face softened, and she squeezed Elspeth's hand. 

"I only brought you here to give you a little hope. You see, this is the end. The one, true, only, final end. As long as you aren't here, nothing is really finished. Anyone in any hell or paradise, any soul that isn't here is still writing their story." 

She smiled at Elspeth, and pulled her closer. 

"You are in the underworld on Theros. But you need not stay there forever. Like all dead realms, it is a mere pathway, leading to this place. You may walk that path, if you wish. I can leave you here, if that is what you wish. But I cannot bring you out of the underworld. That is your task to do. But know that you can. Know that while you are there, you still have a life to do something with." 

Elspeth squeezed back. "Take me back." She whispered. "Please." 

Adelaide nodded, raised her light, and they were gone. 

The air flickered for a moment, and then Adelaide and Elspeth stepped from the blind eternities. Back into the Underworld of Theros. It somehow did not seem as dead and empty as it had before they had left. Anything was more alive than Term. 

Adelaide let their hands part, and smiled at Elspeth. 

"I must leave you here Elspeth, but remember. You are not forgotten, and you are not done." 

Then she was gone. By some means known only to her, Adelaide planeswalked from the underworld. 

Elspeth stood for a moment, staring at the spot her strange companion had been. Then she sat, picking up her mask and hammer, and began to work again. 

*tink tink tink*


End file.
